Charles Landers, 56, never learned to read or write because of a childhood disorder.

But when it came to helping students at Portland's Franklin High School achieve their potential, the 14-year volunteer in the school's industrial technology program pushed relentlessly.

Landers, a former custodian, died Dec. 21 after a brief bout with brain cancer, his family said Tuesday.

His sudden death has shocked the Franklin community, where current and former students considered Landers an honorary teacher. He was so ingrained in life at the school that he had his own Portland Public Schools email address.

Landers was more than a typical volunteer. He lived modestly after being injured at work decades ago but raised money to support causes such as vocational education, friends and family members said.

Steve Matthews, school business manager at Franklin, estimated that Landers funneled about $25,000 a year to Franklin's woodworking and metal fabrication programs, helping to buy materials for needy students and to fund college scholarships for worthy students.

Among the hundreds of students Landers mentored was Trevor Zinser, a 2009 valedictorian. Zinser's father, Scott Zinser, credits Landers with helping Zinser win admission to Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"He was afraid to believe he could even get in," Scott Zinser said of his son.

But Landers, who graduated from Franklin in the 1970s with a modified diploma owing to his disabilities, believed in the student. "He kept calling and calling and calling, rattling their cage, saying you need to look at this kid," Trevor's father said.

Trevor Zinser, now a 21-year-old junior at MIT, remembers Landers "always making speeches about morality," urging students to be their best and to share the rewards of their education with others. "One of his biggest pet peeves was the fact that a 'D' was considered a passing grade," he said.

Landers was also a nonstop networker, constantly gathering supporters for his causes. Pat Barrows, wife of longtime Salem lobbyist Dave Barrows, once worked with Landers as a tutor, trying to help him learn to read as an adult. "Chuck knew everybody, and he was not shy," Pat Barrows said. "He was a little bull dog but he had a heart of gold."

Around 2009, Barrows helped connect Landers with Bob Shiprack, a former state legislator and executive secretary of the Oregon State Building and Construction Trades Council. Landers wanted Shiprack's help getting Franklin students who weren't bound for college into apprenticeship programs. "I've met few people who are that invested in education," Shiprack said. "And he wasn't getting paid for it."

A funeral will be held Wednesday at 11 a.m. at St. Anthony's Catholic Church, 3618 S.E. 79th Ave.

Landers is survived by his mother and stepfather, Marie and Mel Stanislawski, and 11 siblings and half-siblings.